Suture needles are well known and have been in widespread use for many years. Such needles come in various sizes and shapes. For example, needles in various sizes are available in straight, ¼ circle, ⅜ circle, ½ circle, ⅝ circle, compound curves and half curved at both ends of a straight segment. Eyed or reusable needles are needles with holes or eyes which are supplied separate from the suture thread. The suture is threaded on site. An advantage is that any thread or needle combination is possible. Swaged or atraumatic needles with sutures comprise a pre-packaged eyeless needle attached to a specific length of thread. With these needles, the doctor or nurse does not have to take time threading the suture which may be difficult with very fine needles and threads.
Suture devices for endoscopic, laparoscopic and intracardiac procedures and the like are also well known. For example, a Li U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,054 discloses an apparatus and method for tying knots in sutures at an interior surgical site. The apparatus comprises an elongated hollow member having a distal portion extending at an acute angle to the major longitudinal axis of the hollow member and terminating in a distal end surface, and a rod being partly flexible along its length and having a J-shaped hook at its distal end, wherein the hook is sized to grapple the suture which is to be manipulated by the device. The rod is received within the interior of the hollow member and adapted to reciprocate relative to the hollow member so that the hook can be moved between (i) an extended position wherein the mouth of the hook is spaced from the distal end surface of the hollow member by more than the thickness of the suture, whereby the suture can be grappled by the hook, (ii) an intermediate position wherein the mouth of the hook is spaced from the distal end surface of the hollow member by less than the thickness of the suture, but the interior base of the hook is spaced from the distal end surface of the hollow member by more than the thickness of the suture, whereby a suture grappled by the hook will be slidably captured to the hollow member, and (iii) a withdrawn position wherein the interior base of the hook is spaced from the distal end surface of the hollow member by less than the thickness of the suture, whereby a suture grappled by the hook will be fixedly captured to the hollow member.
A more recent patent of Tran et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,597 discloses a suturing instrument and method for placing mattress stitches in soft tissues. An elongated shaft with a stationary jaw and a moveable jaw is disposed at the distal end and is coupled to a handle grip at the proximal end and is configured to manipulate the jaws into open and closed positions. The jaws are configured to allow for atraumatic grasping of soft tissues. The stationary jaw is comprised of a serrated face incorporating apertures through which needles attached to opposite ends of a single strand of suture material may be driven out into and through grasped tissue. The serrated upper jaw is configured with needle catch adapted to accept and capture the needles and suture. The handle is released to open the moveable jaw, the instrument may be withdrawn, trailing the suture, and leaving a mattress stitch in the grasped tissue.
Notwithstanding the above, it is presently believed that there is a need and a potential market for a suturing device in accordance with the present invention. There should be a market for such devices to facilitate bending a needle when a surgeon feels a need to bend a suture needle to a certain angle to give them more freedom to do their work. In many cases, when space allows, movement force is applied using ones fingers to bend the needle. This is done by holding the two ends of the needle and by applying some degree of force according to the size of the needle and the manufactured angle to induce a bend. At times and for very fine small caliber needles the actions might affect the strength of the needle and cause the needle to break or to make the needle more malleable and too weak to penetrate certain tissue. Also, in certain areas like in the case of laparoscopic or endoscopic surgery, it is difficult without the presently disclosed device to accomplish a change in an angle.